Mounting for steering posts and the like



Feb. '19 1924. 1,483,903- -A. F. MAsuRY MOUNTING FOR STEERING POSTS AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 21 1921 z A TTORNEYS Paemasea is, 1924.

, SATES PATENT, OFFHCE,

ALFRED F. MASURY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL MOTOR/COM- rm, OENEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

MOUKTING FOR STEERING POSTS AND ,THE LIKE.

' Application filed Hovember 21,1921. Serial No. 516,567.

tion, reference being had to the accompanyin drawing, forming a part hereof.

n automobile construction-situations are rather common in the assembling of parts where it is diflicult to provide the necessary tolerances required to aline the parts. Manufacturing considerations would make the expense of machining and alinin nicely fitting parts so great as to be prol iibitive for production on an ordinary commercial scale.

he problem is encountered, for instance, in

assembling and alinlng the steering post in the dash or floor, the distance between bearing points being so great along the column that errors in machining, wood turning, assembling etc. are greatly mag-. nified. The invention, therefore, finds its most-useful application to a mounting for a steering 0st which will conveniently and inexpensively afford the necessary tolerance, facilitate assembling, and .hold the postyieldingly in its proper relation to surrounding parts and cushion itagainst vibrations and shocks. In accordance with the invention, a bracket' is secured to the vehicle in proximity to the post and supports a yielding retainer, as of rubber, in alining relationship to the post. The retainer construction permits of the ready assembling of thepost in its improved mountingand the securing of the retainer against displacement within the bracket. In accordance with a further object of the invention, theretainer structure embodies certain features of improvement which insure ready conformation thereof 4 to the 'post and to the bracket and increase the resilient properties without reducing the 'stifi'ness.

As the description proceeds it will be evident that the lmproved mounting may be adapted to ot'her situations in automobile construction, but for an understanding of the invention it is thou h that the accompanyin drawing will il ustrate the principle wit sufiicient clearness to make suchother applications obvious to the skilled mechanic. v

In the drawing'-- Figure 1 is a View partly in side elevation and partly in section of-the improved mounting as applied to the dash of avehiple haying an inclined steering post.

tion ofthe improved mounting shown in Figure 1 without any indication-of the dash or st.

igures 3 and 4 are detail views in section taken along the planes indicated by the lines 3-3 and 44 respectively of Figure 1 and looking in the'direction of the arrows.

Alining brackets for steering posts and the like are, of course, very common in the re 2 is a detail view in front eleva- I automobile art but it has been found very difficult and expensive to machine the brackets with such accuracy that, in assembling, theywould hold the steering post in predetermined relation to all associated parts. The distances'between bearing points along the post are great and large tolerances are required to compensate for irregularities in workmanship. The present invention has, therefore, for its principal object to provide a simple and inexpensive retainer for the steering post'which may be incorporated directly within a bracket and compensate for its inherent properties for deficiencies in alinement. As shown, a bracket a of any approved size and form is secured, as by bolts b,-to some part of the vehicle, such as the dash c, in proximity to'the post (i or other element to be mounted yieldingly but maintained in predetermined alinement. The bracket a is formed with a circular opening a'- through which the postcl passes ,loosely. The particular improvements are concerned with the interposition of a yielding retainer between the post and the bracket,so as to facilitate the assembling of parts wi h the post in proper alinement and,

vided a ring 6 of rubber or other yiel incidentally, cushion the post after being mounted against vibrations and shocks. To this end,in the preferred form, there is rematerial which seats within the opening cg This rubber is held in lace by a retainer f andclamp g. The retainer 7 has an annular flange f which seats on the bracket 0 around the opening a, while the internal diameter of the retaineris such as to allow the post all to pass snugly therethrough. The lower edge of the retainer is slotted, as at f so as to-be of a yielding character and permit it to be pressed against the periphery of the post and to be clamped securely thereagainst. The clamp g has an internal diameter which permits it to slide freely over the lower end of the retainer 7 and is split so that its free ends g may be drawn together by means of a clamping bolt 9 and nut 9 The clamping ringg is also preferably formed with an annular flange g which may be brought up snugly against the under face of the rubber ring e and bracket a ad-- jacent the opening a.

The construction descrlbed is at once inex- "pensive to manufacture and simple to .within the opening a, and of such an internal diameter as to receive snugly the retainer To insure the ready conformation of the ring e to the opening a and to the retainer f and to increase its resiliency without impairing itsstiifness, scallops e, 6 may be molded on its outer and inner peripheries respectively. In assembling, the bracket a will be bolted to the dash 0 by means of the bolts b and approximately with the opening a, in proper relation to the position which the post (i is to be mounted in. Of course the form of the bracket will depend on the angular position of the post or,

other element to be mounted. The post may then he slid through the retainer 7 and clamping ring g, the flange f, in the illustrated embodiment, overlying the bracket adjacent the opening a and the flange g lying under the lower face of the bracket adjacent to the opening a. The resilient ring 6 may be assembled in place on the retainer f or within the opening a, as will be evident when the parts are brought together,

messes tolerance and automatically conform to the alinement established. In completing the alinement it is unnecessary to bend or otherwise to force any of the parts so as to leave them under injuriousstresses. The retaining bearing is the ring 0 and since this is. yielding, its reaction on the post will not leave the latter under destructive stresses. Further, it provides acushion to absorb vibrations on the post and protect it against shocks. These features are all of importance in meeting conditions of use in that the driver as well as the bracket are relieved from such vibrations and shocks.

Changes in design and other adaptations of the retainer for other parts of a motor vehicle may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

\ 1. .In a motor vehicle, in combination with an element to be mounted thereon in a predeterminedposition, a bearing bracket having an opening through which said element extends loosely, a resilient'bearing ring between said element and bracket, and a pair of clamping devices movable lon itudinally' along the said element for clamping the resilient bearing ringin place.

2. In a motor vehicle, in combination with an element to be mounted thereon in a predetermined position, a bearing bracket hav- .ing an opening through which the said element extends loosely, a resilient bearing ring between said element and bracket, and a pair of clamping devices, one of which telescopes over and gripsthe other, with the resilient ring clamped between them.

3. In a motor vehicle, in combination with an element to be mounted thereon in a predea .termined position, a bearing bracket having an opening through which the element extends loosely, a resilient bearing ring surrounding said element within the bracket opening, a clamping ring extending through the resilient ring, and a second clamping 1W ring which telescopes over the first and grips it, both ringsbeing engageable with the resilient ring to clamp it in place between them.

4. In a motor vehicle, in combination with M6 a steering post, a bearing bracket therefor having an opening through which the post extends loosely, a resilient bearing ring within the opening and interposed between the bracket and the post, a flanged retainer 180 for the ring extending therethrough and adapted to embrace the post, and a flanged clamping ring for securing the retainer between the flanges in operative relation to all of the parts.

5. A mounting for a steering post including a bracket to be secured to the vehicle body and having an opening throu h which the post extends loosely, a rub 1 ring mounted within the opening, a retainer ex- 130 tending through the rin and embracin the ment with the post, said clamping rin hav post and slotted at its ower end, a ange ing a flange to lie under the lower e of carried with the retainer adapted to overthe bearing rin and the underside 0 the lie the upper edge of the ring and the upbracket in proximity to said opening.

5 per face of the bracket in proximity to the Thisspecification signed this 18th day of o ening, and a clamping ring to maintain November A. D. 1921.

t e-slotted edge of the retainer in engage- ALFRED F. MASURY. 

